Mountain Wandering: Gale River Slides

I've recently had a chance to visit slides in the valleys of both the North Branch and South Branch of the Gale River.

1954 SLIDE IN VALLEY OF NORTH BRANCH, GALE RIVER

This is one of my favorites, which I have climbed onto a number of times due to its relatively easy access off the Gale River Trail. This photo is typical of the first 1.5 miles of Gale River Trail, an easy-graded corridor through a vast hardwood forest.

A view of the North Branch.

I always enjoy walking the mile-long 2012 relocation that keeps the trail on the west side of the river.

With the water level fairly low, the crossing of Garfield Stream was easy.

This mini-cascade that spills over the trail three miles in flows down from the mostly revegetated track of a 1938 slide.

This gravelly opening with a prominent boulder marks the runout from the 1954 slide, which surged down into the valley during Hurricane Carol that August.

From here there is a view up to a lofty spur of North Twin.

I dropped down over the old slide debris for a view of the North Branch. In 1954 this was a scene of devastation. When the slide fell on August 31st, the debris created a temporary dam on the river, which then let go, releasing a surge of water down the valley. As told in the June 1957 issue of Appalachia, at the time, Ben Bowditch, assistant hutmaster at Galehead Hut, was packing supplies up the trail. He heard a strange noise and saw the water surge coming down through the woods. He ditched his pack, grabbed onto a tree and held on for an hour as the water rose as high as his waist. After the surge receded , he went back and forth along the trail, finding the river crossings still impassable, and eventually bushwhacked back to the trailhead, where he was met by concerned fellow hut crew members. A true first-hand slide experience!

A few days later AMC Huts Manager Joe Dodge sent two employees in to survey the scene. John Ranlett estimated that the slide was three-quarters of a mile long and 60-100 yards wide. The duo marked a route across the base that donkeys could use to supply Galehead Hut.

An emerald swath along the slide track. I stayed off to the side so as not to trample the moss.

The lower open part of the slide is an angled slope of gravel.

A brief stint through prickly woods to reach the ledgy part of the slide.

The ledges were largely dry this day, so I was able to climb them (carefully avoiding any super-slick wet patches) without detouring into the woods.

Some fun scrambling.

Looking down.

Looking up.

Did some zig-zagging to get up through here.

A tamarack (aka larch), which is a fairly uncommon slide resident.

There are a number of white pines on the slide. In 2009 and 2010, the late Alex MacPhail, an AMC hutman in the early 1960s and a keen amateur naturalist, spent many days at the Gale River Slide studying its revegetation and soil development. He documented his research in his excellent blog, White Mountain Sojourn. MacPhail noted several white pines on this slide, and wondered how they got here as this tree is otherwise not found this high up in the valley. His question prompted my own interest in documenting the occurrence of white pines on slides high in the mountains.

Another down-look.

This shelf at the top of the wide slabs is my favorite spot to hang out on the slide.

A neat view up to massive North Twin and a prominent cliff-faced spur.

The broad summit of North Twin.

These wild cliffs always intrigue me. They are well-guarded by steep slopes and dense cripplebrush.

There are smaller cliffs on a more northerly spur of North Twin. I've been to the lower set twice. They have great views of the valley and surrounding peaks.

Easy summertime livin'.

Continuing up over some blocky ledges.

The uppermost part of the slide is pretty well filled in with scrub.

Another shelf.

Looking down over several terraces.

Another look at North Twin.

I decided to descend through prickly conifers rather than slowly pick a way back down the slide.

SMALL SLIDES IN VALLEY OF GALE RIVER, SOUTH BRANCH

This valley on the north side of Mt. Lafayette is bordered by that mountain’s NW ridge (followed by the Skookumchuck Trail) and Big Bickford Mountain on the west and a northern spur ridge of Garfield Ridge on the east. High in the valley on the west side, a series of short, steep gravelly slides scarred the slope sometime in the mid-1900s. In a 1964 aerial photo, there appears a nearly continuous front of these slides a quarter-mile in width. It’s possible that they were triggered by Hurricane Carol in August, 1954, as that storm caused a major slide in the river’s North Branch valley, as described above. Most of these small slides have since been revegetated, but two of them remain largely open today. Both are a bit over 100 feet long and have a slope of about 37-39 degrees. These slides can be seen both from the summit of Mt. Garfield and from the North Peak of Mt. Lafayette, if you know where to look.

I tried to visit these on a snowy December day back in 1996, but was just guessing at their exact location (no GPS in those days). After floundering in the snow for a couple hours on a steep and tangled slope, I eventually found one of the smaller patches and called it a day. With a precise location gleaned from Google Earth and a dry summer day, conditions were more propitious for a visit.

My approach was a three-mile climb on Skookumchuck Trail. I love the section of trail that climbs easily alongside mossy Skookumchuck Brook.

As it climbs away from the brook, the trail presents a long series of rock steps. A good workout.

Above 3000 ft. the trail ascends through a beautiful open mixed forest of birch and fir.

Had to drop a couple hundred feet in elevation, steeply, to reach the slides.

I spy the northern slide!

Emerging at the upper corner of the northern slide. I didn't know if I would be able to get out onto these slides, but with care I could access them and even find a place to sit.